Saturday, April 20, 2024
Phyllis Webster
GARDEN PATCH
Phyllis Webster earned a degree in journalism before embarking on a long career in public relations and marketing. A Granbury resident since 1998, she has been deeply involved in the community. She is an award-winning writer and photographer, as well as a Master Gardener. She has authored Garden Patch since 2001.
We cheer for the underdog. It’s heartening to see someone overcome great odds — rising from despair to great fame or fortune, perhaps saving the world in the process.
In the animal kingdom, Earth’s pollinators are the underdogs. They’re desperately fighting to survive — and save the planet. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, our nation’s pollinator population is declining significantly. Numerous species of bees, butterflies and moths are either extremely rare or extinct.
The migratory monarch butterfly is now classified as “endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. Spokespeople for the World Wildlife Fund claim monarch numbers have decreased more than 80 percent. A main driver is the use of herbicides and the resulting loss of milkweeds, which are necessary for the monarch’s survival.
Without pollinators, we won’t eat. Most food crops and many landscape plants require animal pollination. Only 1,000 of the 200,000 species of pollinators are birds, bats and mammals. The rest are insects such as bees, moths and butterflies. All are in decline.
Honey bee populations are declining as first noted in the 1980s when introduced mites caused extensive colony collapse. Mites give bees viruses that spread from colony to colony. Additionally, bacteria and other pathogens make bees sick. Honey bee decline is also related to insecticide use and environmental toxins. And inconsistent weather takes a toll on bees.
Honey bees, which are not native to the U.S., are best at pollinating large agricultural crop fields or wildflower fields. Native bees and other indigenous insects are more efficient at pollinating “pockets”, such as home landscapes and vegetable gardens. Honey bees and native bees co-exist because they do not compete.
What can you do to help pollinators? Avoid using pesticides, especially when bees are active. If you must spray, use pesticides late in the day, just before sunset. The chemicals will dry before bees are active in the morning. Don’t use pesticides when plants are flowering as this is the time pollinators are most attracted to them. Provide bees and butterflies with a water source and a mud puddle where they can absorb minerals.
When possible, keep stumps on your property to serve as sheltering places. Grow native grasses and nectar-producing plants, particularly those with tubular-shaped flowers. Provide a section of dirt, such as an out-of-the-way dirt mound where bees will nest in the soft soil. Rather than cutting them back, leave dried, spent perennials such as yucca blooms; less manicured areas benefit bees. And to help the monarch, plant milkweed. Native milkweed species, such as antelope milkweed, are most beneficial.
For answers to your horticulture questions, please call the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Hood County at 817-579-3280 or go online to visit lakegranburymastergardeners.org.
MORE INFORMATION
Learn more about saving pollinators by attending the Lake Granbury Master Gardener’s Romancing the Monarch Festival, Saturday, Oct. 1, 1:30-4 p.m., in the Demonstration Garden behind Hood County Annex 1, 1410 W. Pearl St. Free admission.
